The Naba'a trace their origins to the Barb, or to others, but they attribute themselves to a noble or Sharif origin. Therefore, they stop their lineage at a certain point, so that no one among them contains any name other than Arab. If the word "Al-Sa'idi" were correct, it would be more likely that he belonged to the tribe of Bani Sa'd, to whom Halima, the wet nurse of the Prophet, belonged, just as the Sa'di princes who ruled Morocco belonged to them.

We have taken from the history of his birth, as narrated in the History of Sudan: "He died on the eve of Eid al-Fitr, at the sighting of the moon, while people were still ululating, praising him, and congratulating each other. The compiler of these notebooks is Abd al-Rahman ibn Ghayd Allah ibn Amir al-Sa'idi, may Allah guide him and keep him steadfast in the abode of happiness. This was in the year 1004 AH." (Mabo Koh) - History of Sudan, p. 151.

In any case, Al-Sa'idi belonged to a family of scholars in Timbuktu, his birthplace. He was born in 1552 and died in 1627, living for 75 years and a few months. He grew up and spent his entire life under the French occupation of his country before his birth. He and his family, like his people, suffered greatly from the colonizers, and their lives were filled with rebellion, unrest, and a decline in cultural and economic life. Therefore, the national spirit continued to ignite his consciousness and stir his emotions throughout his life. This sometimes led him to exaggerate in his criticism of the colonizers' shortcomings and to be biased in his judgments against them. However, this exaggeration and bias had its justifications, and it was much less than one might expect from a historian in his circumstances, for a beloved homeland.

He received his education in his youth from the scholar Ahmad Baba, and he learned from him in many parts of the History of Sudan. He also learned from many other outstanding scholars of the region, including the judge Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr Bish'i.